We’re delighted to report that our new Clothing Giveaway, which takes place every Monday morning at St Mark’s, has got off to an excellent start. Every Monday we open the doors to the church at 9am for people who would like to select some clothes for them and/or their families, totally free of charge. We also serve coffee, tea, squash, cake or similar in a café in the Community Centre part of the church, again free of charge.

The Clothing Giveaway is not just for people who are struggling financially, but for anyone, regardless of economic status. We want to encourage people not to spend so much on new clothes but instead to fill their wardrobes with good-quality second-hand clothing. We are also trying to encourage recycling so that old clothes do not end up in landfill (at the moment around 350,000 tonnes, that’s around £140 million worth of used but still wearable clothing, goes to landfill in the UK every year).

We take donations of old, goodquality clothes, shoes and baby equipment and are always happy to welcome volunteers to sort out the clothes. We usually sort on a Sunday afternoon. The Clothing Giveaway is being run in conjunction with the Hale Community Centre and is open at St Mark’s on Monday mornings 9-11am. Please look out your old, goodquality clothes and shoes for children and adults. You can bring them to church (in bags/boxes please) or bring them to St Mark’s on a Monday morning, or let Stella Wiseman know if you need them to be picked up: revd.stella@badshotleaandhale.org or calling 07842761919.